Sign pole driver



March 10; 1970 D. MOORE SIGN POLE muvmz Filed July 9, 1968 INVENTOR.

Moms.

United States Patent 3,499,497 SIGN POLE DRIVER Donald Moore, 2014 N.Mildred, Dearhorn, Mich. 48128 Filed July 9, 1968, Ser. No. 743,483 Int.Cl. B25d 9/00; E02d 7/06, /28

US. Cl. 173129 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present inventionis especially directed to, although not limited in use to, the drivingof posts employed to support various trafiic signs, such as stop signs,route numbers, etc. Typically, the posts employed to support such signsare approximately twelve feet long and the usual requirement is that thepost be driven approximately three and one-half feet into the ground.Thus, the conventional manner of driving these posts requires that atthe beginning of the operation, the person driving the post must eitheruse a step ladder or some other elevated support in order to be able todrive the post from the top. The conventional post employed is normallyof a generally U-shaped channel cross section which, although fairlysturdy, can be fairly easily buckled during the driving operationbecause of its substantial length. The present invention is directed tothe provision of an impact transmitting member which enable the post tobe driven by a pneumatic hammer or sledge hammer operated by a workmanstanding at ground level.

Various objects and features of the invention will become apparent byreference to the following specification and to the drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view with certain parts broken away showingone form of the invention in use;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing an alternative form ofthe invention; and

FIGURE 3 is a detail perspective view showing a portion of the device foFIGURE 2 from the rear of the post.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, one form of impacting device 10 embodyingthe present invention includes an elongate shank 12 formed from astandard steel rod stock. The upper end of shank 12 is reversely bent asat 14 to form a downwardly opening hook, the lower end of which ispreferably bent somewhat outwardly as at 16. The lower end of shank 12is bent upwardly as at 18 and an anvil element in the form of a bar 20is seated in the pocket 22 at the bottom of the upwardly bent section18. Anvil 20 is fixedly held in position, preferably by a plate 22welded to the bar and to the lower end of shank 12. Depending upon theimpacting tool to be employed, the upper end of anvil 20 is providedwith a fixed striking seat. In the particular form shown, this seattakes the form of a flange 24 and post 26 welded on the upper end of bar20 and dimensioned to cooperate with a complementary seat formed in thehammer element of a pneumatic hammer designated generally 28.

The use of the device described is believed to be apparent fromFIGURE 1. The post being driven P is of 3,499,497 Patented Mar. 10, 1970the familiar generally U-shaped channel section, and the diameter ofshank member 12 is chosen so that the shank can be loosely receivedwithin the channel. The upper end of the shank is hooked over the top ofthe post. The driving impact is applied to the anvil member 20 and istransmitted by shank 12 to the top of the post. In this particular formof the invention, the impacting device 10 is dimensioned in accordancewith one particular type of 'post to be driven. For example, with theconventional 12 foot post, typically employed for stop signs, the postis normally driven three and one-half feet into the ground. Thus, thedistance between the inner surfaces of the upper hook portion 14 and thebottom of the lower hook portion 18 is selected to be eight and one-halffeet. At the beginning of the driving operation, the anvil 20- is thuspositioned at approximately chest level of the hammer operator whilestanding on the ground, the operator thus drives the post until thebottom of hook portion 18 is at ground level. Thus, when this form isused with a standard post, it provides not only the convenience of beingable to drive the post from ground level, but also automaticallyindicates when the post has been driven to the correct depth. It willfurther be noted that because the shank member lies within the channel,the impact as applied at the top of the post is always appliedvertically downwardly, the seating of shank member 12 within the channelfurther providing some bracing of the post against bending :orhorizontal vibratory movement during the driving operation. If furtherbracing is desired, the shank member may be clamped to the post as byquick acting clamp assemblies to be described below in connection withthe FIGURE 2 embodiment, at various points along its length.

An alternative embodiment is shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The device ofFIGURES 2 and 3 provides for a more compact implement than that ofFIGURE 1, but is limited in use to that type of post in which the baseof the channel is pierced by a plurality of uniformly spaced holes as atH (FIGURE 3). The device of FIGURES 2 and 3 also provides a greater areaof bearing engagement between the impacting device and the post beingdriven, this feature being of some interest in minimizing damage to thepost when being driven in hard or rocky soils.

The device of FIGURES 2 and 3 includes a vertically elongate shank 32which, like the device of FIGURE 1 is formed with an upwardly bent hooksection 34 at its bottom end. As in the previous case, an anvil bar '36is fixedly secured within the bight of the hook as by welding. Aplurality of horizontally projecting studs 38 are fixedly secured toshank 32 at uniformly spaced positions corresponding to the spacing ofthe holes H in a post with which the tool is to be employed. The studs38 thus provide a means for detachably mounting the impacting device atany selected position of longitudinal adjustment along the post and thusthe length of shank 32 need not have any specific relationship to thelength of the post being driven. Preferably, for ease in mounting, studs38 project horizontally from the vertical shank 32 and a quick actingclamp assembly, schematically shown at 40 is employed to hold the devicein position on the post. The impact applied by the hammer to anvilelement 36 is transmitted by the studs to the post, the studs retainingthe device against downward movement relative to the post, as did thehook 14 in the previously described embodiment.

While I have described two exemplary embodiments of my invention, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosedembodiments may be modified. Therefore, the foregoing description is tobe considered exemplary rather than limiting, and the true scope of myinvention is that defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An impact transmitting device for use in driving a post of channelshaped cross section comprising an upwardly facing anvil element, avertically elongate shank adapted to be received within the channel ofthe post fixedly secured at its lower end to said anvil member andextending upwardly therefrom, means for coupling the upper end of saidshank to said post to positively retain said shank against downwardmovement relative to said post and to support said anvil at an elevationaccessible to a hand held impacting tool operated by a person standingat ground level.

2. An impact transmitting device as defined in claim 1 wherein saidmeans for coupling the upper end of said shank to said post comprises adownwardly opening hook integral with the upper end of said shank andadapted to be seated upon the upper end of said post.

3. An impact transmitting device as defined in claim 2 wherein thelength of said shank is equal to the desired height of said post aboveground level at the conclusion of the post driving operation.

4. An impact transmitting device as defined in claim 1 wherein saidmeans for coupling the upper end of said shank to said post comprisesmeans for detachably securing said shank to said post at selectedpositions of longitudinal adjustment along said post.

5. An impact transmitting device as defined in claim 4 'wherein saidpost is formed with a plurality of uniformly spaced holes, and saidmeans for coupling comprises a plurality of studs having a uniformspacing corresponding to the spacing of said holes and fixedly securedto said shank in horizontally projecting relationship thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,330,360 9/1943 Hill 1731292,525,316 10/1950 Schiff 17519 X 2,568,613 9/1951 Daso 173128 X2,629,985 3/1953 McDowell 17519 X FOREIGN PATENTS 686,909 2/ 1953 GreatBritain.

NILE C. BYERS, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

